Finally Off and Running

The waiting is over. The grapes took full advantage of a brilliant weekend. The soils are drying out. Leaves are soaking up the sun and photosynthesis is accelerating ripening. While we want the vines to take in the goodness of each sunny day, the picking line-up is growing and beginning to look intimidating. Time to start.

We start the week with Boisseau Chardonnay and Viognier. Both have been numerically ripe (sugar and acid measurements) for some time. But their flavors have been lackluster and somewhat dilute due to soil-saturating rains earlier in the month. We delayed picking every time we walked the vineyard and tasted the grapes. They have held up exceptionally well through the rains. This is probably due to their thicker than normal skins. We are thinking that the skins toughened up during the July drought.

Avenius Sauvignon Blanc is next. This cool vineyard site always needs some extra sun time to calm the high acidity of the grapes. Two weeks ago, Shari Avenius decided to open up the fruit zone by removing most of the leaves around the clusters. More warm sun on the grapes will encourage tart acids to diminish. It also makes picking easier. This week will be much warmer than normal for mid-September so we will be only picking in the cool mornings. Hot-harvested grapes can lose finesse and aromatics.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: September 13, 2021